at this rate, we don't need homecourt. but if we do (and we make outside shots), this could be a quickie
Yao and T-Mac better be playing!! For that homecourt advantage and plus I got both of them on my fantasy basketball team and it's the playoffs. If those two guys don't play I am toast for the season.
We gotta take advantage that the jazz lost tonite against the Sonics. Hopefully we can jump out in front of the Kings early on and put them away. We have to get rid off the bad habit of letting teams comeback with leads into the 4th quarter
HOLY CRAP... and you think we have problems finishing? The Jazz were outscored 39-16 in the 4th quarter AT HOME
if we had our WHOLE team healthy, (not even including bonzi), we could easily challenge for the 3 seed
Oops, I accidentally clicked on submit reply... anyway... HOLY CRAP... and you think we have problems finishing? The Jazz were outscored 39-16 in the 4th quarter AT HOME to lose 106-103 to the Sonics!!! They were up 87-67 to start the 4th quarter. Remember, they were at home. They didn't exactly rest their starters either. Deron had 42 minutes, while Boozer, Okur, Fisher, and Harpring all had 30+ minutes. I noticed that AK47 didn't play today due to a thumb injury. Don't know how serious it is. Gotta give it up to Houston homeboy and possible future Rocket in Rashard Lewis, who had 35 points. Someone please make a "Utah Jazz sucks" thread. Ah never mind, the bad karma always kills us like that. Their forum is going mad. Apparently, Sloan sucks. Anyway, we should feel optimistic to see the Jazz collapse like that. However, looking at the play-by-play of the game, I see that the Sonics came back by making a lot of threes. Are we capable of that? We have some shooters in T-Mac, Head, Alston, and Battier, but Rafer and T-Mac aren't consistent enough. We'll need that consistency in the playoffs.
Yea but remember we blew a lead in the 4th quarter against the Jazz, we are 1 game behind them but practically 2 games behind due to the tiebreaker since they have a better division record. I just want to see our stars out there tomorrow healthy and ready to perform. In the playoffs, we going to have to win on the road in order to be succesful
FYI, we clinched at least a 5 seed. In other words, we could lose every game here on out and still have the 5 seed. For the people that say that we're really 2 games behind Utah because of the tie-breaker, I say we're only 1 game back (like the standings suggests), because I'm assuming that we're going to beat Utah in the final game of the season. Wouldn't it be awesome though if HCA really did come down to the final game? The atmosphere and game intensity would be like Game 1 of the playoffs right there. Yet, if you lose, it's not AS devastating.
Somebody make a thread about these articles. I can't because I'm a loser rookie. Van Gundy unhappy with effort Rockets coach says players need passion necessary to win in playoffs By MICHAEL MURPHY Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy always looks like he's miserable. The man doesn't have bags under his eyes — he has the anatomical equivalent of steamer trunks. And he'd have to spend a week at the beach just to boost his complexion up to chalky. And his hairline isn't receding — it long ago gave up to full retreat. Van Gundy looks miserable because he is precisely that. He admits it. And straight out of the misery-loves-company file, Van Gundy wishes his players were suffering just as much as he has been. Because to Van Gundy, suffering means paying the price to be a champion. It means working hard to win games — and working harder to win when the team is missing All-Star talents such as Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, both of whom sat out Friday's 85-78 loss to Portland with back problems. But Van Gundy sees precious little evidence of that kind of to-the-bone suffering, which is the reason he gives for the three-game losing streak the Rockets are carrying to Sacramento for tonight's game against the Kings at Arco Arena, the first of a three-game West Coast swing. Little things are vital It's not that they are missing McGrady and Yao, who combine for almost 50 points per game. To Van Gundy, it's because the Rockets don't care enough to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Making that one extra pass. Cutting off a passing lane. Getting a critical rebound. Hitting a shot that needs to go in. And to Van Gundy all the little things the Rockets get in the habit of doing could mean the difference between a playoff run and playoff ruin. "You can never exhale if you want to be a champion," Van Gundy said. "You can never relax, you can never think we've arrived and you can never underestimate the competition. It's a miserable way to live. It is. It's a miserable way to live. But if you want to be a champion, then you're willing to be that miserable and that exhausted. "That's why you see Michael Jordan grabbing that (championship) trophy and breaking down, because of all you had to go through to get to that point. And you see that year in and year out — the champions really do pay the price. It doesn't have to be a lot more, but it has to be a little more than their opponent. "And that is an exhausting, miserable, grinding experience. But if you want to win at this level, you're not going to out-talent anybody. You're going to pay a deeper price for something that you consider meaningful. And that's how you can tell if a guy considers something to be meaningful." And according to Van Gundy, the Rockets haven't done much to help themselves these past three games, all home losses. On a losing streak First it was an 86-83 defeat to Utah, in which the Rockets were outscored 9-2 in the final two minutes by the team they are fighting for that coveted No. 4 seed. Then it was Golden State, when Yao was limited to four field-goal attempts. And in Friday's game the Rockets clawed back and took the lead with two minutes to play, only to see the Trail Blazers make the plays down the stretch to escape with their first win at Toyota Center. Even more distressing to Van Gundy is the Rockets' current slide has occurred with the No. 4 seed in the West — and the home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs that comes with it — within their reach. "I don't know why, but they don't get the importance (of the home-court advantage)," Van Gundy said. "They just don't get it. Watch what we're doing right now. That's telling you that we don't get it. "The overwhelming evidence is that is that it is important. Obviously we haven't grasped that. But that's also maybe why the guys on our team have not had more playoff success." Playoff failings Among whom is McGrady, who has made five trips to the playoffs but never has advanced beyond the first round. And if things keep going the way they have, the Rockets, who are stuck on 47 wins, aren't likely to escape the first round. "Is it important for us to win these games? I never liked losing, so yeah I think it's important," McGrady said. "I think it's important for us to start playing great basketball going into the playoffs. "We definitely don't want to be struggling the way we are right now, losing leads down the stretch of ballgames. We've been saying it forever, but we need to start closing out games, we need to have better execution in games when it comes down to the stretch of the ballgame." michael.murphy@chron.com
Somebody DEFINITELY make a thread about this article. I can't tell you enough about how important this is for our playoff hopes. ROCKETS NOTES: Yao, McGrady hope to play Sunday By MICHAEL MURPHY Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Hoping to play Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, both of whom have been suffering with aching backs, said Saturday that they felt fine and should be ready to go in tonight's game at Sacramento. "I feel better than (Friday) night," Yao said. "I'm going to try and play in (tonight's) game." McGrady went through drills Saturday, but that doesn't mean he will play. "Yeah, I feel a lot better," said McGrady, whose lower back stiffened up seven minutes into Wednesday's 11-point loss to Golden State. "I don't know (if he will play tonight). I wanted to play (Friday), but coach kept me out of the game. "It's his (coach Jeff Van Gundy's) call. We'll see. I practiced (Saturday) a little bit and ran through some drills. We'll see if he lets me play (tonight)." Wells update Bonzi Wells logged just over 22 minutes in Friday's 85-78 loss to Portland at Toyota Center, his first playing time since Feb. 28. Wells scored four points but made only one of his seven shots. He did have five rebounds and two assists. "(Friday) was my first time running up and down the court in a long time," Wells said. "It's been a long, frustrating year. But that's how the ball bounces from time to time. But I'm a teammate and we're winning, so that's all that really matters. Hopefully, I can get it together sooner or later and be ready for the playoff push. If not, I guess I'll be watching the games." Coach Jeff Van Gundy said he won't pass judgment on Wells' play in Friday's game. "I'm not going to evaluate a guy day-to-day," Van Gundy said. "Obviously, we didn't do well as a group, but that's not on one guy. I'm going to play him in these last six games just to try and firm up what we're going to do rotation-wise in the playoffs." Which is the opportunity Wells has sought. "I'll just go out there and be me," Wells said. "I can score, or I can play defense. I just hope the coach gives me an opportunity. I just wish he'd have given me (an opportunity) all year to go out there and show what I could do instead of just playing me here and there every now and then." ---------------------------------------------------------------- You fools! Don't you know what this means!? When JVG says "I'm going to play him to firm up what we're doing rotation-wise in the playoffs, it means that HE WILL BE IN OUR PLAYOFF ROTATION! Not just in the rotation, HE WILL ACTUALLY BE PLAYING! This is awesome baby!
Yes, we did blow that lead, but you can't discount that fact that Head was injured. He's hit clutch shots all year. He may not one of our best players, but his absence can't be ignored. He's a great shooter, and we'll need that come playoff time.
T-Mac wil play i think. Yao too, i hope. T-Mac explodes for 35 points and 8 asist. We win and Bonzi scores 12
